My wife thought I was having some sort of attack. As we rounded the corner of the WalMart on Saturday morning, I suddenly yelled out, 'Oh my god! Oh my god!'
'What!' she said. 'What's wrong?'
'Segways!' I screamed pointing down the sidewalk toward the store entrance.
It turns out, that Thrifty Car Rental was using two Segways as a promotion to announce the opening of a new area rental center. They were offering quick rides on the Segways to anyone willing to listen to a few minutes of instruction. And best-of-all, there were no strings attached. I didn't have to agree to rent a car from Thrifty and I didn't have to sign any waivers. Just hop on board and have some fun.
Of course, of all the days, I had left my digital camera at home. Luckily, one of the Thrifty guys snapped the cheesy Polaroid that you see above, complete with the little Thrifty.com sticker.
What an amazing experience! I've read so much about the Segways and have always imagined what it might be like to own one and actually use it on my daily commute. At first it felt rather strange to see myself standing on this two-wheeled platform, trying to understand the logic of how this crazy, beautiful device can keep me upright and balanced. Finally, I just had to relax and accept the fact that it works. And it does work, amazingly well. Simply lean forward to move ahead and then lean back to stop or go in reverse. Simple!
Actually, I found out that Thrifty has a contest online to give away a Segway!
Also, here's a website known as the Book of Seg from Phillip Torrone, who has been documenting his use of the Segway and how it has impacted his life.
And as the craziness continues, I just googled a bit of Segway and found out that Segway Fest 2003, the first conference dedicated to the Segway, is coming up later this month in Chicago.
Any thoughts, feelings, opinions about the Segway? Post them below.
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